republic · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

Republic of Haiti

1859 CE – present · capital Port-au-Prince

Haiti as a republic since 1859, shaped by an unpayable debt, US occupation, the Duvalier dictatorship and repeated disasters and crises.

Origins

General Fabre Geffrard overthrew Emperor Faustin I in December 1858 and restored the republic in 1859. Geffrard signed a concordat with the Vatican in 1860, which brought French clergy to run churches and schools, and invited African American immigrants.

Rule and society

Frequent revolts, often by peasant armies called cacos, toppled most 19th-century presidents. The indemnity to France and later loans drained revenue. The United States occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934, building roads but imposing forced labour and crushing resistance led by Charlemagne Péralte. François Duvalier, elected in 1957, ruled with the Tonton Macoute militia; his son Jean-Claude succeeded him in 1971. Coffee and peasant farming sustained the economy as forests vanished.

To the present

Jean-Claude Duvalier fled in 1986. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected in 1990, overthrown in 1991 and removed again in 2004. An earthquake in 2010 killed over 200,000 people. After President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021, gangs took control of much of Port-au-Prince, and a transitional presidential council took office in 2024.

Lineage

Second Empire of Haiti 1849 CE – 1859 CERepublic of Haiti

Connections (1)

  • Republic of Haiti was a protectorate of United States1915 CE – 1934 CE

More states of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Republic of Haiti. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-haiti
MLA
“Republic of Haiti.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-haiti. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Republic of Haiti.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-haiti.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Republic of Haiti’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-haiti (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻